Spam Tests Employees' Productivity, Patience

Blacklists, IP blockers, and mail filters are some of the methods companies use to curb the flow of spam E-mail messages. Yet even with these filtering tools in place, electronic junk mail continues to evade spam-blocking techniques, hampering business operations by taxing network bandwidth, cutting worker productivity, and triggering employee frustration.

A recent study conducted by Osterman Research shows how pervasive spam has become and the effect it's having on employees. Of the study's 196 participants, a typical E-mail user receives 59 business-related messages a day and sends out 27. However, on average, 28% of incoming messages are considered to be spam, and the average E-mail user spends 37 minutes during a typical workweek dealing with electronic junk mail.

That might not sound like much, but from a monthly perspective, the minutes quickly add up. E-mail users working without any kind of spam-blocking technology spend an average of 200 minutes dealing with unsolicited junk messages for every 1,000 E-mail messages received. That's approximately 3-1/2 hours of lost productivity a month. Output losses aren't as dramatic for protected employees; a total of 1-1/2 hours of lost productivity a month was reported, based on an average of 80 minutes spent dealing with spam for every 1,000 E-mail messages delivered.

The barrage of inappropriate and unsolicited messaging is affecting more than productivity, though, as the flood of E-mails tests workers' patience. More than half of survey participants consider spam to be extremely annoying. Two-thirds of respondents say they are offended when the messages are sexual in nature.

There are times when spam proves too alluring to resist. In the past month, survey respondents read an average of two spam messages because the subject line was too interesting to ignore.

Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, expects the anticipated growth of spam will have little impact on business E-mail users, who will be increasingly insulated due to investments in blocking technology.

What do you think needs to be done to stem the volume of workplace spam? Let us know at the address below.

Helen D'Antoni
Senior Editor, Research
[email protected]